Baltimore Pike

Good news for anyone planning to use the northbound Blue Route (I-476) from I-95 to Swarthmore late this afternoon: Emergency repair work on a loosened expansion joint will be suspended during the afternoon rush. If all goes well, crews resuming this evening be able to finish the job by 6 a.m. Thursday, so the morning rush won't see a repeat of the major backup still being reported by traffic.com as of early afternoon. Only one lane could get by between the MacDade Boulevard and Baltimore Pike interchanges in Delaware County.

The stone-and-brick house on the old Media Waterworks site off Baltimore Pike dates back to the early 1700s, when a mill complex was built along Ridley Creek. The mill house survived the Great Flood of 1843 and remained useful even after the mills disappeared. The water company superintendent lived there after the borough acquired the site at Baltimore Pike and Elwyn Road in Middletown for its waterworks in the 1870s. The house was also the boyhood home of I. Frank Lees, the well-known Media historian, who died in April.

Giant Food Stores said Thursday it would begin converting 15 former Genuardi's supermarkets in the region on June 29. • Stores on Boot Road in West Chester, Huntingdon Pike in Huntingdon Valley, York Road in Jamison, Baltimore Pike in Kennett Square, and Sumneytown Pike in North Wales will close June 28 at 6 p.m., and reopen July 8 at 8 a.m. • Stores on Wynnewood Road in Wynnewood, Bethlehem Pike in Spring House, Baltimore Pike in...

In the lives of motorists unlucky enough to be approaching a railroad crossing in Lansdowne at 6 p.m. on Aug. 28, it may well turn out to be an evening that will live in infamy. Because that night a 2,000-foot-long train will whistle through town. Actually, it will creep through town, taking between 30 minutes and one hour to pass. And it will return at 6 a.m. the next day. The train will carry track for a $38 million SEPTA project that will correct problems along the tracks from Lansdowne to Philadelphia, Borough Councilman Anthony P. Campuzano said.

This is the story of the Pineapple Tavern and a fiery redhead named Sally. It is set in colonial times at a wagon-stop called Wrangletown. We know the place today as Lima, in Middletown Township, near the intersection of Baltimore Pike and Pennell Road. Almost two centuries ago, the tavern was a popular stopping place for travelers on the Philadelphia, Brandywine and New London Road, now Baltimore Pike and earlier known as "the road to Nottingham. " In the early 1800s, the pike was a rutted dirt thoroughfare used mostly by teamsters and drovers plying their trade from Concord to Philadelphia and points west.

John T. Cacciutti, co-founder of the Fireside Hearth Restaurant in Springfield, Delaware County, died Friday. He was 67 and lived in Springfield. In addition to being a co-founder of the restaurant on Baltimore Pike, Cacciutti was a real estate investor. A graduate of South Philadelphia High School, he had worked as a steam fitter with Local 420 for about 15 years. He was an Army veteran of World War II and was a member of St. Kevin's Roman Catholic Church in Springfield and was a former member of St. Monica's Church in South Philadelphia.

Behind the wheel of a 1922 Buick touring car, Alice Maris Baird was among the first women in Delaware County to drive. She also was a supporter of women's suffrage. But what family members most remember is her business acumen. In 1929, Baird began selling real estate in Swarthmore to support her family as the country tottered on the brink of the Great Depression. Business survival called for ingenuity. "I remember one house she sold, the lady gave her a string of pearls for a commission," recalled her son, Robert S. Bird.

Robert T. Donohue of Lansdowne, who worked as ticket manager for the University of Pennsylvania for 14 years, died Friday at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital in Darby. He turned 71 the day before his death. Anyone who bought a ticket to a sporting event in the 1940s, '50s and '60s had a good chance of bumping into Mr. Donohue. From the time he returned from serving with the Navy in World War until 1971, he worked part time selling tickets all over Philadelphia, from boxing events to football.

The Henderson Group Inc., a commercial real estate development company in Lester, plans to add two buildings with a total of 110,000 square feet to the Chadds Ford Business Campus, Routes 1 and 202, Birmingham Township. About 175,000 square feet of office and retail space have been developed at the 100-acre complex, which encompasses the northwestern and southwestern corners of the intersection. Ground will be broken on the business campus next month for Brandywine Five, a three-story, 45,000-square-foot office building situated on a 3.5-acre parcel.

Wouldn't it be fun to open a cafe, a place with gourmet coffee, yummy pastries and good conversation among friends and neighbors, Marty Von Rosenstiel thought one day as she sat on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It would be small, cozy, comfortable - a place for people to meet. "A public living room," Von Rosenstiel said on a recent morning between greeting customers at the Sidetracks Cafe at 14 S. Lansdowne Ave. "I had felt for years that Lansdowne really needed a gathering place," the borough resident said.

Giant Food Stores said Thursday it would begin converting 15 former Genuardi's supermarkets in the region on June 29. • Stores on Boot Road in West Chester, Huntingdon Pike in Huntingdon Valley, York Road in Jamison, Baltimore Pike in Kennett Square, and Sumneytown Pike in North Wales will close June 28 at 6 p.m., and reopen July 8 at 8 a.m. • Stores on Wynnewood Road in Wynnewood, Bethlehem Pike in Spring House, Baltimore Pike in...

Good news for anyone planning to use the northbound Blue Route (I-476) from I-95 to Swarthmore late this afternoon: Emergency repair work on a loosened expansion joint will be suspended during the afternoon rush. If all goes well, crews resuming this evening be able to finish the job by 6 a.m. Thursday, so the morning rush won't see a repeat of the major backup still being reported by traffic.com as of early afternoon. Only one lane could get by between the MacDade Boulevard and Baltimore Pike interchanges in Delaware County.

Main Line Health announced yesterday that it was expanding its hospital network into Delaware County with the acquisition of Riddle Memorial Hospital. Riddle, a 235-bed facility on Baltimore Pike in Media, is expected to join Main Line Health in January, becoming the health system's fourth acute-care hospital. The deal between the nonprofit organizations needs Delaware County Orphans' Court approval. Financial terms were not disclosed. Riddle president Daniel Kennedy said he and the board "are convinced that this is the best way to secure our future and serve our community's growing health-care needs.

Drivers on the Blue Route are used to seeing red from bumper-to-bumper traffic, particularly where the highway narrows to two lanes in each direction. Tomorrow they will see red on some I-476 ramps. To pace the flow of traffic, long dormant lights, known as ramp meters, will start flashing during tomorrow's evening rush. "This is not a magic wand," said Eugene Blaum, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. "Our aim is to make rush-hour volume run smoother.

Saying residents had made their opposition clear, the Borough Council last night voted down a proposal for a Baltimore Pike parking facility that would have claimed up to six buildings through eminent domain. Officials said they would work to enhance downtown Media's existing parking areas with better lighting, new signs, and possible structural additions. They said they would also continue trying to come up with other ways to ease the parking crunch exacerbated by a recent boost in the borough's nightlife.

In response to the parking crunch that nightlife has brought the borough, officials are considering a parking area on Baltimore Pike that would leave some property owners looking for new homes. The parking area - anything from a lot to a four-story garage - would sit on one block on the north side of Baltimore Pike between Jackson and Church Streets. Six buildings that house a mix of business and residential uses now stand on the site. "It's not an easy thing to do," said Borough Solicitor Frank Daly.

As Delaware County's western portion comes under increasing pressure from development, many historic sites are in danger of being lost. "You might say the devil is at work in Delaware County, in the form of overdevelopment, urban sprawl and the loss of historic properties," James Cunningham, the chairman of the Delaware County Heritage Commission, said yesterday. Cunningham went to the Delaware County Council meeting to commend the efforts of more than a dozen groups and individuals who in recent years have preserved historic sites or conducted educational programs.

The Blue Route's first ramp meter - a stoplight that regulates cars entering the highway to reduce congestion - confused some morning commuters yesterday but generally worked well, transportation officials said. The meter consists of traffic lights - minus the yellow signal - on both sides of the entrance ramp. Drivers are supposed to form two lanes. The lights alternate, releasing one car from the left lane, then one from the right. When the inaugural light switched on at 7 a.m. yesterday on the southbound access ramp from Baltimore Pike, some drivers did not realize that they had to pull all the way up to the white line in front of the traffic signal to trigger a green light, said Charlie Metzger, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The stone-and-brick house on the old Media Waterworks site off Baltimore Pike dates back to the early 1700s, when a mill complex was built along Ridley Creek. The mill house survived the Great Flood of 1843 and remained useful even after the mills disappeared. The water company superintendent lived there after the borough acquired the site at Baltimore Pike and Elwyn Road in Middletown for its waterworks in the 1870s. The house was also the boyhood home of I. Frank Lees, the well-known Media historian, who died in April.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said yesterday that they would try to speed up the completion date for repairing the historic Lindbergh Bridge. The project has closed the bridge since February 1998, cutting off a major route between Clifton Heights and Upper Darby. Complaints from merchants on nearby Baltimore Pike over lost business and from residents over travel inconvenience led to the meeting yesterday with politicians and state officials. Andrew Warren, regional director for PennDot, said that he agreed that the new March deadline offered by the contractor was too far away and that he would work to expedite the project.